Talking to Terrorists

Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

John Bew, Martyn Frampton, and Inigo Gurruchaga

A measured approach to engaging with terrorists: Is the pursuit of diplomatic dialogue always the best defence against extremists?

Highlights the key prerequisite to bringing terrorists to the table: that they must acknowledge their aims are unattainable by violence.

In-depth case studies of Northern Ireland and Basque separatists in Spain provide lessons to learn from for the future.

Talking to Terrorists

Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

John Bew, Martyn Frampton, and Inigo Gurruchaga

Description

The peace agreement in Northern Ireland has been held up as a beacon for conflict resolution around the world. The lessons of Ulster have been applied by prime ministers, presidents, diplomats and intelligence agents to many areas of violent conflict, from Spain to Sri Lanka, from Afghanistan to Iraq and, frequently, the Israel-Palestine crisis. From Belfast to Basra, the notion that it is necessary to engage in dialogue with one's enemies has been fetishised across the political spectrum. Talking to terrorists is a necessary pre-requisite to peace, it is argued, and governments should avoid rigid pre-conditions in their attempt to bring in the extremes. But does this understanding really reflect what happened in Northern Ireland? Moreover, does it apply to other
areas where democratic governments face threats from terrorist organisations, such as in the Basque region of northern Spain? In challenging this notion, the authors offer an analytical history of the transition from war to peace in Northern Ireland, and compare the violent conflict in the Basque country over the same period, demonstrating how events there have developed very differently than the advocates of 'the Northern Ireland model' might presume. The authors recognise that governments have often talked to terrorists and will continue to do so in the future. But they argue that what really matters is not the act of talking to terrorists itself but a range of other variables including the role of state actors, intelligence agencies, hard power and the wider democratic process. Above
all, there is a crucial difference between talking to terrorists who believe that their strategy is succeeding and those who have been made to realise that their aims are unattainable by violence.

Talking to Terrorists

Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

John Bew, Martyn Frampton, and Inigo Gurruchaga

Table of Contents

IntroductionThe British State in Northern Ireland:Between Democracy and Terrorism

1. Intervention and Oscillation: British Policy, 1968DS1974 Background to the Crisis The British state responds Talking to Terrorists I Towards a new approach: building the moderate alliance The Pendulum swings back: Talking to Terrorists II Drift: the final months of the Wilson Premiership

2. The Long War, 1975DS1990 Settling in for the Long Haul: from Rees to Mason The IRA responds: "The Long War" Borders and Statecraft: Anglo-Irish Relations Thatcher and Haughey: First Openings and AnotherFailure for Devolution The Hunger Strikes: Talking to Terrorists III Towards the Anglo-Irish Agreement,
1981

3. The Peace Process Towards an end to violence Talking to Terrorists IV The Battle over Preconditions Towards the Agreement The Good Friday Agreement Post-AgreementActs of completion The Final Act? 159ETA in Spain and the Basque Country:Rise, Decline and the Politics of Surrender

4. Birth, Resistance and the Assault on Liberty Origins The Urgency of YouthETA under FrancoETA in "The Transition"Enemies of Liberty

5. Talking to ETA The Long War and the French Connection: ETAre-evaluates, the state murders The Algerian Connection: Killing and Talking The Irish Connection: Peace Processing or Slow Defeat? The Irish Connection Revisited: The Last Peace
Process?

Conclusion

Talking to Terrorists

Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

John Bew, Martyn Frampton, and Inigo Gurruchaga

Author Information

John Bew is Lecturer in Modern British History, Harris Fellow and Director of Studies at Peterhouse, Cambridge.

Martyn Frampton is a Research Fellow, also at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and an expert on the Irish republican movement.

Inigo Gurruchaga is the London correspondent for the Basque daily, El Correo.

Talking to Terrorists

Making Peace in Northern Ireland and the Basque Country

John Bew, Martyn Frampton, and Inigo Gurruchaga

Reviews and Awards

"According to this marvelous new study, Talking to Terrorists... there are serious reasons to doubt that the model of conflict resolution relied on here is an accurate account of what actually happened in Northern Ireland."--The Weekly Standard